Sharesz T. Wilkinson

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After dealing with a global pandemic for more than a year, people are increasingly focused on health and wellness. Whether it’s a new workout routine, strengthening their immune system or simply eating healthier, many are moving forward by taking better care of themselves. Employers can fuel these new regimens by providing employees with well-being initiatives that serve their holistic health goals. Below, 12 Forbes Coaches Council members offered some unique ideas for workplace initiatives that can positively impact the lives of your employees.

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Every business is going to deal with bad press at one point or another, whether it’s a negative article or a poor customer review. When this situation inevitably arises, it’s important to know how you want to respond and handle it with care. Bad press doesn’t have to ruin your company’s reputation; you just need to have the correct response at the ready. To help your brand recover from a piece of negative media attention, 13 Forbes Coaches Council members give their best advice below.

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As an entrepreneur, you need firm parameters in place to make sure you don’t allow a single client to dominate or take advantage of your time and expertise. While all clients want and deserve your time and attention, if one monopolizes your usefulness, it can prevent the business from growing in new directions.  It’s easier to avert this type of scenario than it is to extract oneself from it, and by taking steps to ensure that you are in control of your own time, you can. To help, ten experts from Forbes Coaches Council shared their best advice on how professionals can create and enforce boundaries with clients to avoid this situation.

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Every business wants to gain as much exposure as possible to reach a wider audience and have a greater impact. In today’s digital-first world, it’s easy to consider only online exposure strategies, such as social media, digital ads and blogging. However, countless opportunities can stem from “offline” exposure out in the physical world. From getting involved in the community to direct mail campaigns, there are plenty of ways to reach your target customers, even during the current pandemic. Below, 13 members of Forbes Coaches Council suggest tactics for generating offline exposure for your business. 

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Parents who took time away from the workforce to raise their children often face an immense challenge when it comes time to jump back into it. This is especially true for parents who didn’t have a clearly established career trajectory before having a child. Potential employers may look at these parents’ resumes and see a big gap and an unfocused career path. However, there are ways to position yourself as a valuable asset for any organization that needs someone with a strong work ethic, a sense of responsibility and lots of transferable skills. Below, 15 Forbes Coaches Council members offer their best tips for parents who were at home raising kids and are now looking to rejoin the workforce.

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As the Covid-19 pandemic continues, employee benefits are starting to look quite different than they did just a year ago. Conversations around attracting and retaining top talent used to be centered around free lunches, ping-pong tables and casual Fridays. Now, with so many companies remaining virtual for the foreseeable future, employers need to come up with creative solutions to attract and hold onto talent for future growth. To help, 16 Forbes Coaches Council members weighed in on the perks and benefits that employers should offer in today’s virtual workplace to retain their top talent.

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Executives and entrepreneurs always seem concerned about their companies’ spending, and for good reason. Without sufficient revenue and cash flow to support necessary expenditures, an organization could go into unsustainable debt or be forced to make painful cuts.  Worrying too much about this situation doesn’t accomplish anything positive, however. Constant anxiety about a business’s financial state can produce levels of mental stress that lead to social and emotional dysfunction as well as physical symptoms of poor health. Leaders can’t suffer in this state for long before the effects take a toll on their personal and professional well-being. Below, 13 members of Forbes Coaches Council suggest some effective ways for executives and entrepreneurs to limit anxiety over their business’s finances so that they can spend less time worrying and more time running the company.

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One of the most significant impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic has been the loss of in-person meetings. Now, many of us look back on one-to-one conferences and face-to-face collaboration fondly, as communication is done primarily online today. Especially for leaders managing growing startups, conducting critical communications with stakeholders and team members has become more of a challenge than ever before. Fortunately, there are effective ways for them to stay in touch with their teams without the luxury of being in the same physical space. To help, the experts of Forbes Coaches Council shared 14 of the best and most productive ways to stay connected to remote team members from a distance.

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The 21st century is all about sustainability. From building a resilient business model to lowering carbon footprints to waste reduction, companies have come together globally to make themselves more accountable for resource use. However, if a business intends to become sustainable, the leader must define its detailed methodology for achieving this goal. There are not enough resources for starting down a path of sustainability that doesn't produce a viable result and then start all over again. Businesses need to create their plan and stick to it. To help, 15 experts from Forbes Coaches Council suggest the best first steps that a business leader can take to ensure that their company achieves sustainability.

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In the past, staying on top of cutting-edge advances, emerging trends and the latest developments within an industry meant poring over magazines, newspapers, journals and trade publications. With so much information available online today, finding relevant resources is considerably easier. However, the immense glut of available data can be overwhelming. How can a professional filter out nonessential information and stay up to date on the most important current trends, practices and news in their field?  To help, members of Forbes Coaches Council suggest 11 effective methods busy professionals can use to keep up with the latest advances within their industry.

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Coaching is a two-way street. The coach provides useful advice and data, and the client needs to act on that information along with guidelines that the coach designs to benefit the client specifically. Unfortunately, not every client that signs up for a coaching engagement is ready to take the necessary steps to ensure success. This unpreparedness could be a double-edged sword for a coach since their reputation may suffer if they fail to deliver. Spotting clients that aren't ready for their coaching engagements can help limit the chance of failure. To help, 12 contributors to Forbes Coaches Council point out some of the telltale signs of clients that aren't ready to commit to a coaching process.

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It's expected that once in a while, a company will encounter some bad press. With the way audiences are today, it's just a matter of time before a slip-up occurs. However, if a business is seeing consistent negative press over time, it may point to a more troubling problem. One piece of unflattering coverage by the media is likely just to be bad timing, but if it becomes a regular occurrence, the business needs to take note. How does a company shore up its lousy press and turn it from a loss into a win? Fourteen experts from Forbes Coaches Council share a few bits of advice about taking consistent negative press and flipping it on its head to benefit the business.

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As companies begin to hire more contract workers over full-time employees, the "gig economy" is becoming a viable option for full-time employment. However, with more freelancers, there’s more competition for work, making it harder to stand out. It can be especially difficult trying to land your first freelance gig. To help those who are new to the world of freelancing, we asked members of Forbes Coaches Council to share some advice for landing your first client. Their best responses are below.

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Businesses with remote employees know these workers are just as valuable and impactful as the in-office members of their team. This mindset is easy to achieve in today's world, when most companies have shifted to a work-from-home model. However, when you and your team eventually do return to the office, you can't let any remaining remote employees become "out of sight, out of mind." All employees must receive the same respect, access and consideration, no matter where they're located. To help you better support your remote workers, we asked the members of Forbes Coaches Council for their insights. Here's how they recommend making geographically dispersed employees feel just as included and important as their on-site colleagues.

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When your business is successful and growing, the idea of franchising can be incredibly enticing. After all, it's an easy way to expand your company's presence while leveraging the passion and drive of aspiring entrepreneurs who want to manage their own location. However, it's important to think through this decision and determine whether becoming a franchise is right for your business at this time. We asked members of Forbes Coaches Council what entrepreneurs should know about franchising their business, including some pros and cons might they not have considered. Here are 15 important questions to ask yourself before taking the leap.

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Building positive habits, in both your work and personal spheres, is a great way to create the life you want. But it can be difficult to maintain them, especially in the long-term. Fortunately, there are plenty of tricks you can do to help establish good habits (and curb some not-so-good ones). To help you, we asked a panel of Forbes Coaches Council members how they recommend getting good behaviors to stick. Read on for their favorite life hacks for building better habits.

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Customer service can make or break a business, especially if you've had a hard time gaining and retaining customers. Poor or unresponsive service can turn away even the most loyal shoppers, which significantly affects your company’s bottom line. Conversely, a great experience can turn dissatisfied customers into strong advocates of your brand. If your company is struggling, transforming your customer support into a 5-star experience can inject new life into your business. Not sure where to start? Try these 15 tips from the members of Forbes Coaches Council.